Exceptions
by Natalia173
Summary: Ami has a secret admirer. Written originally for a series of Valentine's day one-shots. *Revised story, not a new chapter*


I wrote this some time ago for My "Valentine's Day Extravaganza." I wrote seven sappy stories of my seven favorite couples the seven days before Valentine's day. This is one of my favorites I feel. And there aren't a lot of Ryo/Ami stories out there. I actually didn't have to change that much on this one, just added a little and fixed some grammar problems. Anyways, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon; I just use the characters to further the enjoyment of all

--

Ami-chan hated Valentine's Day. It was boring and dull and just a holiday propagated by the card companies. It was completely designed to make people feel the need to spend money on frivolous things. It was a monstrous holiday that only the pretty, popular, air headed girls celebrated. Well, Usagi did but she was the exception. She had found her soul mate back in middle school, a very rare thing. Then again, Mamoru was a very rare guy.

She stopped outside her high school. She didn't want to go in. The whole day was just going to be annoying and depressing. She was sure the halls would be decked in tacky pink and red hearts and that the lunch ladies would dye their food similar colors in celebration of the day. She didn't understand why they had to celebrate the day at all. She signed in resignation, preparing herself. She hurried up the stairs to the school and into the building. Though the hallways were nearly bare of people, the entire school was decked out in hearts and streamers, all in pink and red, just as she predicted they would be. The few people there were handing candy and flowers to their sweethearts. Ami-chan could have puked into a nearby garbage can.

She proceeded to her locker trying to avoid looking at the lovey-dovey couples. As a general rule public displays of affection were offensive to her. Who wanted to look at two people kissing in the hallways? She certainly didn't. She ignored the voice in head that said she may not have minded it had she had someone _to_ kiss in public. That was neither here nor there. She never had anyone in her life; she had never had the time. It had been her decision so she certainly wasn't going to start regretting it now. She kept insisting this was the way that she wanted her life. She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. Her day was going to be depressing enough without thinking of her lack of a love life. Flinging her book bag over her shoulder, she twirled the combination on her locker and opened it with a bang.

Ami-chan's eyes widened in amazement and shock. The entire inside of her locker was covered in roses, red and white and doily hearts were pressed to the sides of the small space. A balloon with the words 'I Love You' was placed gently inside, floating just above a box of her favorite kind of chocolates. She gingerly plucked the elegantly done card from the spot it was hanging. Opening it up she saw calligraphy writing that read 'Happy Valentine's Day Ami-chan.' Her eyes dropped to the bottom of the card but the only signature she found was 'Your Secret Admirer.'

Ami was flabbergasted. She leaned against the row of locker, just taking it all in. She pressed her palms flat against the lockers, hoping that the cool metal would calm her down and possibly bring her back to reality. She closed her eyes, expecting her locker to be empty when she looked into again. She opened her eyes and glanced into it once again but nothing had changed. Who could have done this? Did the girls do it to make her feel better? A part of her was mad at them for it. She didn't need their pity on Valentine's Day. Pretending to be her secret admirer was more like a cruel joke than a gesture of friendship.

"Wow, Ami-chan! Who gave you that?" said a voice from behind her. Ami turned around and saw her four best friends walking towards her.

"It wasn't you girls?" she retorted. Four heads shook no. She looked at them a little warily. "Really? You didn't do it thinking that it would be a nice thing to do for me on Valentine's Day?" Once again four heads shook no in unison. Ami-chan couldn't believe it. She really did have a secret admirer.

Shock settled into her once again.

"Have you been dating someone without telling us?" Usagi asked her. Ami shook her head no. She lifted the card to her face once again but before she could read its contents over, Minako plucked the card out of Ami's hands.

"Hey give that back!" Ami yelled, attempting to reach for the stolen card. Minako lifted it high well out of the shorter girl's reach.

"'Happy Valentine's Day, Ami-chan. Signed, Your Secret Admirer,'" Minako read aloud. "Ooo, Ami-chan, how romantic!"

"Do you have any idea who it is?" Makoto pressed. Ami shook her head.

"Well it's about time," Rei declared unceremoniously. "She needs a boyfriend to loosen her up."

Ami glared at Rei. Just because she was right didn't mean that she should announce it to the world. Ami's personal life was just that: personal. She didn't mind the girls knowing things here or there but she certainly didn't ever feel the desire to spill her every secret like Usagi did.

"What are you guys doing here anyways? School doesn't start for another thirty minutes," Ami said defensively. It was the one time that she could have used solitude in her life and it was the one day that they all decided to be on time to school.

"We're always here on time," Rei shot back. "It's Usagi-chan who's always late." All eyes turned towards the Ondongo haired blonde in question. Usagi merely shrugged.

"Mamo-chan made me breakfast in bed this morning."

"Your bed or his?" Rei scoffed. Usagi smiled slowly, remembering their night more than their morning. Both were equally fun and she couldn't wait to see him tonight.

"I'll put it this way. I convinced him to give me one of my presents last night," Usagi replied. Four sets of eyes rolled heavenward.

"How long did that take," Rei prodded, "five seconds?"

"Not even," Usagi answered her.

"I'm going to class," Ami interrupted, "before I get the full on details about what happened." She reached past the flowers, balloons and candy to where her actual books were. Pulling out the ones she needed for her first class, she slammed the locker shut before stalking off to her class. She still hated Valentine's Day and she hated secret admirers even more.

However, she couldn't keep a small smile from reaching her lips.

--

It was lunch and Ami was swamped with presents. First period a white bear with the words 'Be My Valentine' sewed onto its stomach sat on her desk. Math class she was presented with a dozen white roses to add to the dozen and a half in her locker. Gym class she found a pair of heart shaped earrings in her locker and last period two Hershey kisses graced her desk with the words 'Until they're real' written on a cutout heart.

It was incredibly sappy and romantic and Ami could no longer deny the fact that she was loving every minute of it despite the attention it was causing. Everyone kept asking her who they were from and she felt a little stupid telling them that she had no idea who they could be from.

It was only lunch and she was floating on a cloud. Considering how much she was dreading today it was turning out a lot better than she could have ever expected. It was like she was living a fairytale and she couldn't wait to see what her mystery man had in store for her next class. As she walked towards her usual table with her friends, now covered in about fifty red, white, and pink balloons, she realized he wasn't going to wait until science.

"Ami-chan!" Minako called from the table, excitement written all over her face. Ami waved to the blond haired girl, or at least the best she could with all the things she had in her hands. She plopped it all down on the table. "Not only did he get you balloons but a cuisine service that are giving you this faboo meal! I wish I had someone doing all that for me!" Minako said in a rush.

"It is pretty sweet. I just wish that I had some inkling of an idea who was doing it!" Ami said pulling out a chair and sitting down. "I mean, I've wracked my brain for any guy in this school, and trust me, I know every guy. I work in the office."

"I can't believe how incredibly romantic this is. You're so lucky Ami-chan. I hope that it works out and he doesn't end up being some jerk," Usagi told her friend. Ami-chan was a wonderful girl who was passionate about life and was a good friend to Usagi and all the other girls. She deserved a good guy in her life more than anyone that Usagi could think of.

"That makes two of us," Ami responded. The last thing she needed was some guy just doing this to use her for one thing or another. Ami put the thought out of her mind and ate her wonderfully done prepared meal and chatted with her friends. She was excited about all the romance that was going on around her, but she still had her doubts. She didn't want all of this to be some fluke, some joke played on the nerd of the school. Things like this just didn't happen to girls like her.

--

Ami dumped all of her numerous presents in the back of her car. Her parents had finally cracked and bought her one for Christmas the previous year. Her mom said that with all the good grades she'd gotten her whole life the least that they could do was give her a way to get around to all her extra curricular activities. Ami had a sinking suspicion it was just because her mother didn't want to drive her to all those activities anymore and she didn't trust the bus system. Ami took out the note she had gotten in her last period that day.

It had come with a silver ring that had two hands holding a heart with a crown above them. She had seen the ring before and knew that worn on her left hand, crown out, meant she was taken. The other hand the other way meant she was open for love. It was one of her favorite rings but just had never gotten one. The thing that had stopped her was that she had no desire to tell the world that she was available. She looked at the ring in her hand. It was her perfect ring size too. Who ever this mystery person was, they knew a lot about her. She didn't know whether to think it was sweet or be scared that they were stalking her. She decided that she liked the idea that it was sweet better.

The note that accompanied it was what scared her. It had said to meet her at Shunju, a very high class fancy restaurant. He said that he would meet her there at 6:30 that night for dinner. She was actually going to meet her mystery man. She didn't know whether she wanted to. She had built up this image of him and didn't know if she could handle her hopes being smashed. If he didn't live up to it there would be so much disappointment on either side.

But if she didn't meet him then not only would she always wonder, she'd be very rude by standing him up. It just wasn't in her nature to be rude, so she'd go. She even knew what she's wear. She smiled. It was going to be great, and no matter what happened, it had been a good day.

--

He watched her walk into the restaurant, watched her eyes skim the area looking for him. He knew she would recognize him if she saw him but not as her admirer. She had no idea that he was her admirer and had been for years. Since the first day that he had met her he had fallen in love with her. He just wished it hadn't taken him so long to finally do something about it. She looked amazing and he found he was having a hard time breathing. She was wearing a black dress that was form fitting on her torso and then flared slightly at the waist. The hemline brushed just above her knees. The neck scooped downwards and had two thick straps over her shoulders, but no sleeves. The back was high and she had a black choker wrapped around her long, elegant neck. A black beaded purse and black pumps completed the outfit.

She looked more beautiful then he had ever seen her. He'd seen her dressed up but those were always more formal events. This was too revealing for one of those, or at least for her it was. He hid the white rose he had in his hand behind his back. The note that he had left her said that this was how she would identify him and he didn't want to spoil the surprise. He got up from the table and walked over to her.

"Ryo-kun! I wasn't expecting you here! It's so good to see you," Ami-chan said with genuine excitement in her voice. She kissed his cheek softly and hugged him tightly. Ryo-chan was such a good friend to her, had been for most of her life and she was always excited when she had the occasion to see him. He was one of the only people who knew about her secret outside of the other Senshi and it was nice to not have to pretend around someone. If she ever had to cut their time short, Ryo-kun always knew why.

"It's good to see you too, Ami-chan. I've missed seeing you everyday like I used to. Maybe I should move back." He winked at her. "So what are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing," she responded. He didn't live around here; in fact it wasn't even a short train ride to get here. Ryo-chan had to have known he was going to be here and hadn't told her. It was odd of him not to try and see her when he was in town and it made Ami-chan wonder what he was really doing here.

"I'm meeting someone very special," he answered. He had to keep himself from spilling all his secrets when he saw how her face changed from one of bliss to one of hurt.

Ami's heart sank. She had always had strong feelings for Ryo-chan. She had fallen in love with him in the time she had known him and it hurt her every time he got a new girlfriend. She knew she was here to meet her prince charming but she knew that Ryo-chan would always be her first choice. She had made excuse after excuse as to why they couldn't be together but none really held any substance. The truth was she had just been scared. She was scared to take a chance on anything and had buried herself so deeply into her own world that she never came up for air anymore. Ryo-chan was always a breath of fresh air and she felt that he could be the gust of wind that she needed if she had just allowed herself to learn to fly.

"Oh, what a coincidence, I'm here for the same thing," she answered him, trying to hide her disappointment. Ryo-chan smiled. He already knew but he wasn't going to tell her that. Or at least not yet he wasn't.

"What's her name?" Ami asked, not sure if she really wanted to know the name of the girl who was stealing his heart. Ryo-chan pulled a white rose from behind his back and presented it to her.

"Ami-chan," he answered softly. Ami gasped not trusting herself to believe it. She reached out for the rose to touch it as if to make sure that it was real.

"No, Ryo-chan, that's my name," she whispered. Ryo chuckled.

"I know. Ami-chan, I was the one who sent you all those gifts today. I was the one who put the decorations in your locker and had the meal delivered at lunch. I was the one who told you to come here," he told her. He couldn't hold it back anymore. Ami blinked back tears and Ryo-chan continued. "I've loved for as long as I can remember Ami, since the day that I met you. But being a fellow outcast and bookworm like yourself, I never told you. I was too scared, too busy, to whatever excuse that I could think of. But I couldn't hold it in any longer and when my parents told me we were going to be in town on Valentine's Day, I just had to tell you."

"Oh, Ryo-chan." Tears fell from her eyes.

"I don't know how you feel about me Ami-chan and I'm taking a big leap of faith here, but I was tired of being alone on Valentine's Day when I knew the perfect person to spend it with. So tell me, Ami-chan," he snapped off the stem of the rose and then placed the flower in her hair. "Will you be my Valentine?" He pushed a tendril of hair out of her face. Ami-chan nodded at him, smile on her face.

"That's all I've ever wanted, Ryo-chan. I love you," she told him when she finally found her voice. Ryo smiled, ecstatic. He had never dreamed she'd felt the same way about him. He laced his fingers with hers and pulled her into his arms. He knew they were making a public display but he didn't care. He had waited too long for this moment and he wasn't going to let a silly thing like a crowd stop him.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Ami-chan." He leaned down and pressed his lips against her. They were soft and tasted of vanilla and…something else he couldn't place but loved. He pulled her into his arms, kissing her with all the passion he didn't realize that he had. The kiss was slow and sensual and was causing them both to be a little light headed in all the ways that a person wanted to be.

Ami felt a rush of emotion and feeling. It felt so right to be here, to be in his arms. She realized that he had always been her love, her soul mate. She had found that rare thing. She had found her exception.

--

I hope you enjoyed my story! Stay tuned as I rewrite almost every story I've ever written…


End file.
